Alonso the irreducible: this time redemption is around the corner...

"Stays“. But this time for real, not like Neymar in Piqué's famous tweet. Fernando Alonso will continue to race in F1 with McLaren, the announcement from Woking arrived in great style, with a rather funny "social" video, with the whole team in the factory intent on speaking Spanish and French, a clear tribute to the Spanish champion and to the new Renault engine engineer.

The renewal of the irreducible Matador it opens up new scenarios in McLaren, a top team ready to leave behind the disastrous three-year period with Honda, and sweeps away all doubts about Nando's possible short-term future away from F1.

Never like this time, however, Alonso's choice does not seem risky, questionable or wrong, quite the opposite. The two-time world champion decided in the most logical way possible, having the concrete possibility of obtaining that redemption in the top formula that he had been chasing in vain for too long.

After all, Fernando has several unfinished business with destiny, it's difficult to close them all, but he has to start somewhere. The disappointments of the Ferrari years and the McLaren-Honda project would have exhausted anyone. Not him, ready to set off again with the enthusiasm of a young man. After having reluctantly put up with the problems of the Honda engines, contributing with gags and "shoots" on the radio to lift the spirits of the enthusiasts, the Spaniard once again embraces the engineer who gave him the most satisfaction, to open yet another chapter in a career already epic, despite the ups and downs.

McLaren-Renault is unprecedented, in reality it almost sounds bad, if we think back to the sculpted hierarchies of the nineties, which we are still fond of. McLaren-Renault is also a bet, which unlike the agreement with Honda, however, starts from much more solid foundations. There Regie in fact it is a supplier with a classic working method, already used to collaborating with a top team (Red Bull) for years; it also features an honest and now reliable power unit, although not at the level of Mercedes and Ferrari.

We are certain that Alonso will have carefully considered all the elements at play, also evaluating the consequences. Why leave F1 now for more or less distant shores, when it has the chance to play one last great ace up its sleeve? Woking is convinced that it has a great chassis, with a wealth of technicians ready to put an increasingly competitive single-seater on the track (beware of underestimating Prodromou, Newey's former dolphin in Red Bull). It has always been said that it was the engine that was completely missing. Fernando does not lack the desire to erase the last few seasons, spent fighting for scraps of glory in the quicksand of mid-clearing, which suffocate ambitions and debase talent, to the point of making you fall into oblivion.

Yes, because, despite the "exploits" of Alonso over the years, we would have remembered with a mocking smile also and above all the Honda parable, the (many, too many) retirements, the laughter (of the others), the poisonous radio teams and a failure that a He really didn't deserve a "handle" like that. Nando spoke of the renewal as a "heart choice” where the heart is probably not – or not only – affection for McLaren, but rather a mixed feeling of anger and pride, of self-love, to ferociously pursue the stages that most belong to him. Renault appeared as a Deus Ex Machina, a saving entity capable of restoring enthusiasm and perspectives to a great team and an indomitable champion, who just doesn't want to give up.

Antonino Rendina

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